Left high and dry by Lune tide rise debris

Piles of debris washed onto a Lancaster road by high tides over the weekend are causing a headache – and backache – for a Lancaster landlord.

Stephen Hunt, landlord and owner of The Golden Ball at Snatchems, says that customers are “turning around and going home” when they try to access the road leading to the pub.

Mr Hunt, who has tried to clear away as much of the logs, rubbish, mud and weeds away from the public highway next to the River Lune as he can, says the local council has a duty to carry out the work.

He said: “People just turn around and go home. It’s a public highway but I’m finding myself having to go out and try and shift the debris myself. Over the last three years it’s happened around half a dozen times. If you drive past the pub towards Overton, it’s even worse.

“We’ve had reports from people that their car tyres are getting punctures, and if that happens chances are they’re not going to come back in a hurry in case it happens again. “There are a lot of people who have told me they’re having to stay away because they don’t want to risk the roads.

“It should be looked after.”

He said shifting the blockage was “knackering”, and added: “I can’t imagine there’s many landlords out there who have to do this.”

Lancashire County Council said that Lancaster City Council’s cleansing department was responsible for clearing away the debris.

A member of the public, who did not wish to be named, said that the debris could also cause problems for emergency services accessing the road.

He said: “The emergency services are finding it difficult to get through. If they decide to go through that way, then they end up turning around again and that makes a big difference in the time it takes for them to get to an emergency.”

Morecambe RNLI’s inshore lifeboat launches from Snatchems.

Mr Hunt added: “In the past the council has come out and shifted the debris to the side of the road, but all that does is make it worse the next time the tide rises because it pulls it all back onto the road along with the new stuff that comes down the river.”

A spokeswoman for Lancaster City Council said: “A tractor has been on site today removing debris from the road. On this occasion the debris has been pushed back well onto the foreshore from where it came. We do on occasions remove the debris but to do so we need two tractors and a trailer which weren’t available today.”